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The Dutch West India Company occupied northeastern Brazil from 1624 to 1654. In 1638, the physician Willem Piso and astronomer Georg Markgraf arrived as part of Johann Maurits’ research staff, tasked with promoting scientific studies in Brazil. This is the Introduction to their collaborative illustrated folio volume, which spanned 12 books and was published in 1648. Rich in description of native life, the book contains 446 woodcuts illustrating local flora and fauna, and comprises the most important early documentation of zoology, botany and medicine in Brazil.
